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Software

Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provides the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it. Software refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of the computer for some reasons. In other words, software is a set of programs, procedures, algorithms and its documentation concerned with the operation of a data processing system. Program software performs the function of the program it implements, either by directly providing instructions to the computer hardware or by serving as input to another piece of software. The term was coined to contrast to the old term hardware (meaning physical devices). In contrast to hardware, software "cannot be touched". Software is also sometimes used in a more narrow sense, meaning application software only. Sometimes the term includes data that has not traditionally been associated with computers, such as film, tapes, and records.

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This series is supported by Rackspace, the better way to do hosting. Learn more about Rackspace's hosting solutions here. We searched forums, blogs, and Twitter to find out which Firefox add-ons are most popular with web developers, and we came up wi...

In 2006, film critic Roger Ebert underwent surgery to remove cancer near his jaw. There were complications and his carotid artery burst. As a result, Ebert can no longer eat, drink or speak. At least, he can no longer naturally speak. Today, on Oprah...

CoTweet, the Twitter CRM tool used by several massive brands including JetBlue and Ford, has been acquired by ExactTarget, an email marketing firm. In a statement, ExactTarget CEO Scott Dorsey said, ”By combining the power of ExactTarget and CoTweet,...

This post is part of Mashable's Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. Na...

BuzzAware is a new GoogleBuzz-focused app directory that is focused on keeping all Buzz related add-ons, apps and plugins in one place. Google Buzz launched a few weeks ago, and even without a completed API, somef developers are still building their ...

Remember how Google Chrome's market share grew last month, but Firefox and Internet Explorer's shares slipped downward ever-so-slightly? That trend continued in February, according to web analytics company Net Applications. This time, however, Chrome...

When you think personal finance software, the first thing that comes to mind is probably Quicken. While Quicken has been a mainstay on Windows desktops for years, its Mac presence has been less than stellar. That changes today, with the release of Qu...

Opera just released the 10.5 beta version of its web browser for Mac computers — the fifth most popular browser on the market. We previously covered the Pre-Alpha version of 10.5, but this beta release is likely far more stable. There's a complete ch...

Webtrends, a company that offers marketers detailed web analytics, has rolled out new measurement capabilities for Facebook, including the ability to view Facebook data alongside data for other channels. Tools like this are useful because Facebook's ...

File under "strange and delightful" -- CodeOrgan is a Flash app that turns any web page into music. It analyses the text in the body of the supplied URL and follows an algorithm to render that site into a musical composition. It chooses a drum patter...

Does advocating the use of open-source software make one an enemy of capitalism? Yes, according to a U.S. intellectual property lobby group. The Guardian reports that the International Intellectual Property Alliance, a lobby group broadly representin...

Zoho is attempting to appeal to the mass market of Internet users by allowing its adherents to log in to the online office suite via Facebook Connect. The move, which follows Zoho already offering sign-in with Google, Google Apps and Yahoo accounts, ...

The end is nigh. We've known this was imminent, but come March 13, 2010, YouTube will no longer officially support Internet Explorer 6. Ars Technica found the specific date buried in a YouTube Help item pertaining to browser support. Under the sectio...

Social note-taking service Evernote may be available on the desktop and six different mobile platforms including the iPhone, but now it can boast its presence on a unique piece of hardware: your printer. Starting today, Lexmark's SmartSolution Intera...

We all have our tolerance levels for pointless babble, but now instead of just whining about the tweets we hate, we can use the new Bird Turd iPhone app to poop on them. At $0.99 Bird Turd offers an amusing addition to the Twitter experience. Once yo...

Fans of the popular Seesmic Twitter client's web-based interface have some good news today. A major update to the web interface brings in a brand new contact manager, drag-and-drop full Twitter list management, photo uploads with geotagging, Tweetmem...

Back in December, we discussed Google's decision to shift focus away from Gears, its platform that allows web apps to work offline -- instead the company would utilize HTML5. In the Gears API Blog this week, Google has reinforced that decision, makin...

Tomorrow Adobe Photoshop turns 20. While birthday celebrations for software might seem kind of silly, for a program like Photoshop -- which has literally become a verb and has had a huge impact on the world of photography and graphic design -- the pa...

At the Dreamforce Conference in November, Salesforce.com officially announced Salesforce Chatter, which is basically "Facebook for the Enterprise." Today Salesforce.com has announced the private beta for Chatter, which will be rolling out to 100 comp...

The BlackBerry Browser often gets dinged for its slow performance and for stumbling through sites containing a lot of JavaScript. However, it stands to see a marked improvement reasonably soon, if RIM's Mobile World Congress demonstration has any ind...

Most of us weren't able to experience the firsthand look at Wired magazine on the iPad at TED last week. Video of the application (which is expected to launch this summer) in action has now hit the web, offering an inside look at Wired's vision for t...

One of our favorite little Mac utilities, the iTunes controller Bowtie has just hit version 1.0! Bowtie lets you easily control iTunes with customizable shortcuts, view album art and automatically send songs to Last.fm (and mark songs you love and so...

We wrote about Google's Liquid Galaxy project back in December, one of the more interesting 20% projects in which a series of eight LCD panels surround the viewer in a wraparound view of Google Earth or Street View. We had a chance to get a live demo...

Google has just officially rolled out extensions as part of the latest beta release of Chrome for Mac. The new release of Chrome for Mac also includes bookmark sync (across multiple computers), bookmark and cookie managers and a new Task Manager. Tod...

This post is part of Mashable's Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. Na...

PicClick -- which already offers a visual way to browse eBay -- has just introduced an interface that offers a simple, fast and eye-catching way to find your favorite handmade goods. PicClick's Etsy shop centers around visualization and displays imag...

GMAIL USERS: You can now follow Mashable's official Google Buzz profile here: http://www.google.com/profiles/mashable So far, Google has failed to launch a successful social web product to U.S. Internet users. Orkut has taken off in including Brazil ...

Bummed because you don't have the time to salivate in front of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition Ustream? Well, now you can get plenty of SI content sent directly to your cell: All you need is a physical issue of the mag and a camera phone. Onc...

Earlier this morning, the Apple Store was down for a protracted amount of time. That almost always means one thing: Something new was added to the store. This time, it was Aperture 3. Aperture is Apple's photo management and editing software for prof...

All right Tweetdeck fans, rev up your engines and prepare to update to Tweetdeck 0.33, which adds a slew of new features, better API management and more in-Tweetdeck media previews. We could list all the new features in Tweetdeck 0.33, but the compan...

What better to way to watch the convergence of social media and the Super Bowl than to follow the real-time ratings and rankings of advertisers as determined by your tweets? BrandBowl2010 -- a new Super Bowl advertiser tracking site from Mullen and R...

Boxee and Hulu have had a contentious history, with Hulu several times blocking its content from working with the Boxee social media software. NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker once told All Things D he didn't want Hulu content on Boxee because it was co...

Back in November, Apple quietly rolled out iTunes Preview, which created a web-based page for iTunes albums and song tracks. Earlier this year, the company added song samples to iTunes Preview, further fueling speculation of a web-based iTunes client...

This post is part of Mashable's Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. Na...

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